The Muslim Invasions

An event of immense and lasting impact in
Indian history was the advent of the Muslims in
the north-west. Lured by tales of the fertile
plains of the Punjab and the fabulous wealth of
Hindu temples, Mahmud of Ghazni first attacked
India in 1000 AD. Other raiders from Central Asia
followed him, but these invasions were no more
than banditry. It was only in 1192 that Muslim
power arrived in India on a permanent basis. In
that year, Mohammed of Ghori, who had been
expanding his power all across the Punjab broke
into India and took Ajmer. The following
year his general Qutb-ud-din Aibak took Varanasi
and Delhi and after Mohammed Ghori's death in
1206, he became the first of the Sultans of
Delhi. Qutb-ud-din Aibak founded the so called
Slave Dynasty in India at Delhi, setting up the
nucleus of the Delhi Sultanate, or the rule of
Turkish and Afghan sultans, the Khiljis, the
Tughlaqs and the Lodis.

Impact of Islam

The impact of Islam on Indian culture has been
inestimable. It permanently influenced the
development of all areas of human endeavour -
language, dress, cuisine, all the art forms,
architecture and urban design, and social customs
and values. Conversely, the languages of the
Muslim invaders were modified by contact with
local languages, to Urdu, which uses the Arabic
script, and the more colloquial Hindustani, which
uses the Devnagri script. Both are major Indian
languages today.

Kabir and Nanak

The synthesis of Hinduism and Islam is
exemplified by the emergence, at this time, of
the ideas of two great saints, Kabir and Nanak.
Drawing on the devotional Hindu Bhakti and the
mystical Islamic Sufi cults, the tolerance of
Hinduism and the ideas of equality in Islam, they
preached religions that advocated simple living
and practical common sense. Kabir emphasised the
oneness of the Divine in memorable couplets -
"Hari is in the east, Allah in the west;
look within your heart for there you will find
both Karim and Ram." The followers of Guru
Nanak founded the Sikh religion, which has a
large following.

The Great Mughals

Babur

Akbar

Jehangir

Shahjahan

The most important Islamic
empire was that of the Mughals, a Central Asian
dynasty founded by Babur early in the sixteenth
century. Babur was succeeded by his son Humayun
and under the reign of Humayun's son , Akbar the
Great (1562-1605), Indo-Islamic culture attained
a peak of tolerance, harmony and a spirit of
enquiry.The nobles of his court
belonged to both the Hindu and the Muslim faiths,
and Akbar himself married a Hindu princess.
Leaders of all the faiths were invited to his
court at Fatehpur Sikri to debate religious
issues at the specially built 'Ibadat Khana'.
Akbar tried to consolidate religious tolerance by
founding the Din-e-Ilahi religion, an amalgam of
the Hindu and the Muslim faiths.

Mughal culture reached its zenith during the
reign of Akbar's grandson Shahjehan, a great
builder and patron of the arts. Shahjehan moved
his capital to Delhi and built the incomparable Taj Mahal at Agra.

Aurangzeb, the last major Mughal, extended his
empire over all but the southern tip of India,
though he was constantly harried by Rajput and
Maratha clans.